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Washington, D.C. – Opening remarks, as prepared, of Congressman Mike Ezell (R-MS), who chaired today’s Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee hearing entitled “America Builds: Making Federal Real Estate Work for the Taxpayers”:

I want to thank our witnesses for being here today to discuss how we can make federal real estate work for the American taxpayer.

At the beginning of last Congress, the Subcommittee hosted a roundtable with industry stakeholders to help Members better understand current market trends in office space and how to right-size the federal real estate portfolio. Building upon that stakeholder roundtable, the Subcommittee held a hearing that highlighted a report published by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on space utilization for federal agencies in their headquarters buildings. The information that GAO uncovered in their report was shocking.

While many knew federal space was underused for a long time, I don’t think any of us expected to see such devastating usage numbers. Specifically, GAO found that a majority of the agencies reviewed used 25 percent or less of their headquarters buildings’ space. In the case of some agencies, that utilization rate was closer to nine percent. Let that number sink in, nine percent.

Even under the Trump Administration’s return to the office directives, we know there will still be unused space because in that same GAO report, at least one agency admitted that even if 100 percent of their employees returned to the office, 33 percent of their space would still be empty. 

As Mr. Marroni has testified to in previous hearings, the federal government spends two billion dollars a year to operate and maintain federal office buildings, regardless of whether the building is being used. This means that American taxpayers are literally paying billions for federal office space to just sit empty.

In response to the findings from GAO, Subcommittee Members put forward a slate of bills to improve the utilization of office space, increase transparency, and hold agencies accountable. Two key pieces of legislation enacted included: First, the USE IT Act, which sets targets for space usage, requires deployment of technology to count actual employees using government space, and establishes timelines, meaning if agencies don’t use their space, they will lose it.  Secondly, the FASTA Reform Act strengthens the authority of the Public Buildings Reform Board to identify Federal properties that should be sold.

On January 5, 2025, those reforms and others put forth by Committee Members became law as a part of the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2024. With some deadlines in those reforms approaching quickly, I look forward to working with GSA, OMB, and the Public Buildings Reform Board on WRDA’s implementation.

I am pleased that the new Administration hit the ground running by identifying the waste in federal real estate and promptly taking action to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not wasted on empty buildings.

This is not a partisan issue – even the Mayor of Washington, D.C. has highlighted the negative impact of empty federal offices on the local economy here in the Nation’s capital. American taxpayers expect Congress to hold the federal government accountable for all of its wasteful spending, and I look forward to working with the Trump Administration to achieve results for our constituents.

Getting a handle on the waste in federal real estate can save the taxpayers billions of dollars annually. Members of both parties should be supportive of this goal.

Click here for more information from today’s hearing, including video and witness testimony.